


Vicarious

by ActualHurry



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Exhibitionism, Identity Porn, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Pre-Canon, Teben/Shin is unrequited and not the focus of the fic, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 07:20:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18960532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActualHurry/pseuds/ActualHurry
Summary: Dredgen Vale doesn't seem to mind Hope's presence during a moment with Bane - in fact, Hope thinks he may welcome it.





	Vicarious

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: Bane does not know Hope is present during the voyeurism portion. I figured I would warn, just in case, if people are uncomfortable with that. 
> 
> Anyway, sometimes friends curse me with ideas and I have to fling them out onto paper immediately. I didn't really edit this either, so like, oh well.

Hope made it a point to avoid most of the Shadows. Mire? He tried not to associate with people that gave themselves a last name. Scarr? Kinda spooked him. Totalus? Don’t even get him _started_. Bane was a necessary evil. And Vale…

Vale was something all on his own.

Hope had seen enough scrawled notes on Hive rituals to know that Vale had some additional knowledge he wasn’t dishing out. Yet. Asking Vale to talk it out with him would only serve to implicate him as someone walking out of line. He’d heard the speeches Vale gave about those who fell a little too hard for the Darkness. Hope didn’t intend on being mistaken for one of ‘em. He didn’t need The Man with the Golden Gun coming after him, not now, not ever.

So he didn’t want to talk to Vale. Slipping into Vale’s room in the middle of the night, though – that, _that_ , he could do.

Hope waited until he was sure that nobody was walking the halls, and then he quickly opened Vale’s door – unlocked – and shut it silently behind him. He waited a second for his heart to vacate his throat, then took a deep breath.

“Okay, okay,” he whispered to himself in the dark. “If I was a special, Dredgen-leaders-only book, where would I be?”

Not that he could see anything. Hope wet his lips, lifting his hand to snap a small flame into his fingers, but he was shaking too much for the fire to stay. He swore quietly then tried a second time, sighing in relief when the light wavered but didn’t go out. Walking along the edge of the room, he bumped first into Vale’s bed, trailed the side of it, felt out the handle of his closet, and found his desk against the wall by tripping over the chair.

“Bingo,” Hope muttered, using the little flame from his Solar energy to light the candle on the desk.

Vale’s desk was covered in thoughts, papers, blueprints – countless notes sprawled over it in something like desperation. Sometimes, his handwriting scattered into frustrated spirals. Other times, it was neat and tidy, Hive translations overlaid with his commentary. From Hope’s quick once-over, none of it was unknown to him already.

He turned his attention to the bookshelf next to the desk, running his fingers over the myriad of volumes. _Advanced Cryptarchy Techniques_ , _A History of Luna_ (all four parts!), _What Lies Beneath?: Tragedy on the Moon, Examining Hive Anatomy_ , some gunsmithing books that looked untouched, a collection of legends told in the Tower….

His nose wrinkled, half-ready to abandon his search, when his fingertips caught on something leather-bound and thick. Hope needed to get the hell out, but this didn’t feel like anything he’d seen Bane keep. Hope glanced back at the door, swallowing once..

Then he pulled the leather-bound book out and held it by the candle.

It was an old, well-used journal by the looks of it – one small clasp kept it shut, with an added, small datapad on the front. It flashed once, waiting for input, and Hope dropped it onto the desk like it’d burned him.

“I don’t have time for this,” Hope groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. He waved in front of himself, looking at his Ghost as it appeared.

Silently, it flashed a light at him a few times, illuminating the room.

“Yeah, I know I could’ve just asked you,” Hope hissed, batting at his Ghost. It avoided him easily, ducking out of range. “Can you break into this thing?”

His Ghost peered down at the datapad, its eye narrowed as it floated down a little closer. Hope watched nervously.

Then he heard voices outside of the door. Getting closer. Right outside –

“Oh, no,” Hope breathed. “Oh, no-no-no. Nonono.” He snatched up the journal, clutching it against his chest, glancing every which way. No other exits. “ _Go away_ ,” he snapped at his Ghost, darting over to the closet.

Hope almost got the closet shut too, but had to keep it cracked when he heard the other door handle turn and open.

“– invite me in, so that we may continue our discussion?” Bane’s voice asked, all too polite.

“By all means,” Vale responded.

The blood drained out of Hope’s face. He stayed completely still while he listened to the door shut behind them, both pairs of footsteps nearing the closet and passing it completely. He didn’t so much as breathe until he was able to see Vale walk over to the desk, Bane on his heels.

“With all due respect, Vale, I insist that you’re wrong,” Bane was saying. “The Book of Unmaking can function in cooperation with the other known books, not in spite of them, but in addition.”

Vale didn’t look up at all, stopping at his desk and staring at the candle there. Hope nearly swallowed his tongue as Vale reached out towards the little flame, then seemed to change his mind as he used it to light a brighter lamp on the desk.

“So you’ve said,” Vale finally replied, coolly. He glanced up at Bane, turning around so his back was against the desk’s edge. “But this argument isn’t why you wanted to follow me into my room.”

Bane stayed quiet, out of sight from Hope’s sliver of view. “You’ve caught me,” Hope heard him say, a smile to the words. “Yet knowing that, you still invited me in.”

Vale hummed, sounding entirely complacent about Bane’s smugness. Hope went wide-eyed as he watched Bane’s hands settle onto Vale’s waist, as Bane closed the space between them and kept Vale corralled against the desk, as Bane nosed at the bandana keeping the lower half of Vale’s face covered.

Seemed dangerous to put a man that unhinged in a corner, if you asked Hope. But –

Vale let Bane near him, head tipped up while Bane reached for his cloak to unclasp it. Vale didn’t push back as Bane went for his belts. Even though Bane was doing all the touching, one of Vale’s hands stayed fast on the nape of Bane’s neck, fingers tucked beneath the Warlock’s collar, keeping a loose hold there that spoke of the truth behind that control. Like any minute, Vale could lose his taste for indulgence.

Any minute, he could glance up and see Hope watching through the crack in the door.

The fear coiled up tight in Hope’s gut and left him breathless.

Hope stared as Bane kissed along Vale’s neck, felt strangled as he watched Bane step closer to press himself against Vale. At this angle, he couldn’t see everything – but he could see Vale’s eyes flutter shut when Bane’s hand crept low between his legs, and he could hear the sound of loose belts being shuffled around, and then Vale’s cloak was sliding off of the desk and onto the floor.

Hope thought, maybe, he’d started hallucinating, that this wasn’t real, that the whispers had gone for his eyes as well as his ears and that somewhere, somehow, he was knocked flat on the floor.

He held the journal close to his chest, hands gripped so tight around it that they couldn’t shake even if they wanted to. The leather edges pressed into his palms, reminding him that as much as he thought this could’ve been a dream, it was the furthest thing from it.

Bane made a soft noise against Vale’s throat and Hope glanced up and –

His heart stuttered to a nervous stop, because Vale was looking at him. Vale was looking _right at him_ with half-lidded eyes over Bane’s shoulder. His gaze was sharp with intent no matter that shine of arousal. Hope felt pinned like prey, his heart speeding up too fast, too hard.

He remembered the journal in his arms. He lowered it, slightly, and Vale’s dark eyes narrowed like he was either smiling or snarling beneath that bandana of his. Vale’s hand tightened on the nape of Bane’s neck and Bane’s breathy sound tapered off at the end, sent Hope’s mind spiraling into some unknown abyss, and even as Vale tucked his head against Bane’s jaw, he didn’t look away from Hope.

Even as he shivered and jerked his hips a few final times against Bane ( _into Bane’s hand_ , Hope’s imagination provided helpfully), Vale never looked away.

The fear in Hope’s gut had long since turned to fire.

Vale was quick to control his panting breaths, but Bane’s every move seemed reluctant to pull away from him. Vale reached down himself to get his belts on and pants fixed, yet Bane didn’t draw back at all.

Vale’s eyes finally left Hope only when Bane leaned back enough to speak.

“Well?” Vale said to Bane. His gaze flicked to Hope again, burning him alive. “Was that what you wanted?”

Hope couldn’t see Bane’s face, but he could imagine the expression he was wearing. Probably something like the exact opposite of Hope’s. “A shadow of it,” Bane said slowly, stepping back once.

After a short moment, Vale nodded once, pushing off from the desk. “We’ll finish our discussion another time,” he said.

It was obviously a dismissal, but it was just as obvious that Bane wasn’t terribly happy about it. He favored one hand – likely that it was messy, Hope thought, standing rigidly in his hiding place – but extended the other, lightly running a knuckle over Vale’s jaw, hidden beneath his bandana. Vale didn’t move, simply waiting for Bane to drop his touch.

“Another time,” Bane repeated, sounding only partially rueful. He headed towards the door. Hope could only _wish_ Vale was going with him. Then he could run, and run some more, and never, ever look back. Change his name. Never speak of the Shadows again. Dredgen Hope, who–?

The door clicked shut behind Bane. Hope sucked in his breath and didn’t move, even though Vale definitely knew he was there.

“You can come out now,” Vale said, looking down at the floor.

Despite the fear, he couldn’t help thinking of Vale’s eyes watching him as he neared that tipping point. Vale’s dark, dark eyes, how hot his skin must’ve been beneath all his gear. But if he stepped out now, with Vale’s journal in his hands, he was going to be caught for more than a friendly round of exhibitionism.

“Figured it was rude to interrupt,” Hope said, voice tight and rough and nervous. He gritted his teeth together, then stepped out, holding the journal out towards Vale. Baring his wrongs. He’d beg forgiveness if he needed to. Get on his knees for him.

 _…Bane would too,_ Hope thought vindictively.

A flicker of _something_ had Vale’s brows furrowing deeper as he took the journal from Hope. Then he glanced up to Hope’s face searchingly. “I wish you had,” Vale murmured, studying the journal.

Hope almost didn’t catch it, as soft as Vale said it, and then he was blinking several times over, body flushing hot all over again.

“If you want something, you need only ask,” Vale said then, interrupting Hope’s screeching thoughts that could’ve passed for hissing whispers. Vale put the journal back on the shelf, then glanced over his shoulder at Hope, expectant.

“Yeah,” Hope said, unconvinced. Then the words caught up with him. “Are you – wait, are you _propositioning_ me?”

Vale seemed amused then, though Hope didn’t miss the subtle way he reached up to touch at his ear as he turned around again to face him. “It’s an offer. Whatever your answer, I won’t ask questions.”

Hope stared at him, a little slack-jawed. “You don’t get enough from Bane?” he blurted.

“That was not for me,” Vale said, frowning. Hope flexed his shaky fingers into his palms. Vale glanced over to the door, slowly adding, “He’s loyal.”

 _Unlike you_ , went unsaid. Hope bit his lip until he tasted blood, ears roaring. “Why me?”

He’d expected consequences. He’d expected reprimanding. He’d gotten into Vale’s room without permission and attempted to steal from him, then accidentally witnessed Bane giving him a _handjob_ …and Vale had known he was there, yet hadn’t stopped anything. Regardless of the lust still burning through Hope’s system, he’d seen the way Vale looked at him.

Like…

Like desire was only scratching the surface.

Like he’d wanted Hope replacing Bane’s body, Bane’s hand, Bane’s mouth.

And _damn_ , the way Vale looked at him now, as if he couldn’t quite decide how to answer that –

“Never mind,” Hope said quickly, saving them both from the answer to his question. He swallowed, rabbit-heart beating fast, blood rushing through his veins, then took care not to step on Vale’s cloak as he moved forward.

This time, it was Hope pinning Vale to the desk. This time, instead of Vale’s hands going to the back of his neck, Vale grabbed hold of his hips – just to flip them around, picking Hope up enough to set him down on the desk. Papers shifted beneath him, but if Vale wanted him here, well, it was _his_ work, who was Hope to complain?

Vale tipped his head closer to him, leaning in. Hope’s breath caught in his throat, fingers crawling up Vale’s chestpiece to his shoulders, but Vale reached behind him, rubbing forefinger and thumb together.

Then he pinched out the candlelight. The lamp followed, room bathed once more in shadow.

“Do you have anywhere else to be?” Vale murmured.

Hope nearly jumped when he felt breath wash over his jaw, then realized Vale had slipped off the bandana. Adrenaline dizzied him, and he hooked his legs tighter around Vale’s waist. “No,” he whispered, raw with sudden want.

“Mhm.”

When Vale kissed him, it was a simple brush of lips against his cheek at first, then it was a claim being laid upon his mouth. Vale kissed him hungrily, a depth of heat to it that sent all of Hope’s reason careening out of the window. Hope parted his lips and let Vale dive in, let Vale press their bodies close, wondered where all this initiation and fire had been moments ago, with Bane –

Vale licked between his teeth and made a small growl of a noise. Hope’s hands tightened on his shoulders. He went for Vale’s armor, but Vale pushed his hands off of him and started pulling at Hope’s clothes instead. Hope didn’t stop him, didn’t even come close to _thinking_ of stopping him. If Vale wanted to eat him alive, so long as it felt like being wanted _this much_ , so be it.

Hope shrugged out of his robes and kicked off his boots, arched up hard into Vale’s hand pressing against his crotch, rubbing between his legs. He thought _yes,_ heard Vale whisper, “Yes,” into his mouth – or at least he thought it was Vale, it could’ve been another sort of whisper. The thought didn’t scare him as much as it usually did.

Hope’s head thunked hard against the wall as Vale finally reached into his bottoms to wrap a bare hand around his cock. He grabbed at Vale’s hair all on instinct, only to have Vale’s free hand snap to his wrist, and pin his hand down.

“Ah-ah,” Vale murmured at his jaw, lips barely touching his pulse point. “Let me.”

Hope let him, _hell_ , did he let him. Vale let go of his cock just to stick fingers in his mouth and Hope licked his palm wet for him, tasted the leather and metal there. Vale dragged his hand over Hope’s throat on the way down, and when he saw the brief touch to his neck shocked him like a live-wire, he released his wrist to take him by the throat instead.

“What would you let me do to you?” Vale breathed, grasping the base of Hope’s cock again, this time slick enough to rub out the friction.

Hope didn’t have a good answer for that, or not one that he wouldn’t regret giving later, his eyes squeezed shut as Vale pumped his hand over his length. He hissed in air around the hand at his throat, felt Vale tighten his fingers on either side of his neck.

“Almost,” Vale murmured, “almost,” like a mantra, his voice shaking at the end.

Hope bit back a noise and failed, jerking his hips up into Vale’s grip. Vale didn’t keep him suffering, and Hope could almost say he was _merciful_ as he let Hope chase the feeling. Hope was so close – so close – _almost_ was an understatement –

Vale knew. Vale knew, and kissed him the second he was about to tip over that edge, devoured him by the mouth as he let go of his throat, as Hope shivered and gasped and failed at gasping, because Vale sought out his mouth over and over, replacing breaths with tongue and teeth.

When he was finally allowed air, Hope slumped against the wall with wide eyes, sucking in breaths while Vale pressed his lips against his neck, along every warm line of sensation his hold left behind. It was too dark to see Vale’s features without the light, but Hope carefully reached up anyway, curiosity and bliss making him bold as he grasped Vale by the cheek lightly.

He felt out the line of his jaw, the shape of his chin. Stubble. Slick mouth. Smooth face.

Vale let him touch. Hope thought it must be repayment of some kind.

“If you stay a little longer, I’ll treat you again,” Vale said as Hope’s thumb traced his lower lip.

Hope pulled his hand away. “Figured. You asked if I had anywhere else to be.”

Vale moved back, catching him by the waist to tug him down. Papers fell to the floor as Hope scooted off the desk, but Vale didn’t seem to mind. “Let me keep you a while longer,” Vale suggested.

If he was trying to sound seductive, it did the trick. Hope realized, as Vale reeled him in again, that he could hear no whispers.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading <3


End file.
